Hi All,
Do we have the capability to spray paint some furniture manufactured out of MDF? more specifically do we have a compressor and a dirty area to paint in?
If not does anyone know of another workshop who would help out? either allowing me to use their paint booth or do the spraying as a paid job?
At the moment we do have an air compressor (in need of some love) but we do not have any spray gun! The wet area should be suitable also for spray painting but to be sure I refer to the king of messy area his majesty @pip!
I used to be a spray painter and I doubt the wet area is going to be large enough or equipped suitably for spraypainting…
Ahmed next door to us has the facilities for this.
Do you think a small spray painting setup is possible in the ‘wet corner’?
Air brushing would be ok, but I will need to look at the ‘wet corner’ to see what the setup is (unfortunately not been to the space to a while). But judging by the photos I have seen I doubt it will be suitable for anything more than that.
We need a second arch! 
A pop up gazebo outside might work? Could be useful for other temporary projects too.
With a good fullface mask?
This idea has crossed my mind also, the only issue would be temperature control.
@Dermot a fullface mask would be mandatory in all circumstances.
@stefanoromano I have a spray gun somewhere, however for small jobs a cheap one would suffice so I may buy a new one. I have never sprayed on wood so would need to practice with undercoat paints first. @nico.dejong.nz do you think there will be any difference in spraying an undercoat paint onto MDF ? I have experience with painting vehicles with 2K.
@Dermot Next time I am down during the daytime I will speak with Ahmed and see if he would like to help, until some point in the future when we potentially have our own facilities.
We have a fantastic extraction system. There was talk (and possibly plans) to have pop up extraction areas in the messy workshop. Potentially for welding or spray painting. @pip ?
I do know that a commercial paint booth with extraction would also incorporate filters. Maybe not necessary for our limited use but worth a thought in terms of environmental regs perhaps?
Its hard to tell, obviously depends a lot on paint choice. Would be best to read what the material data sheet says for the paint you would like to use. A month ago it would not have been an issue, but unfortunately the summer doesn’t last forever . Less is more with MDF, start off giving it a very light coat and slowly build it up. Obviously with the lower temp drying times will be extended so you will not get too many coats on in 1 day.
AH ha, completely the opposite to what I was thinking. I would have drenched the mdf to get the paint to soak in. Its always very interesting to get things 100% wrong
Its also possible to get a special sealer that is first applied, which is even better. As I said its best to apply it in layers so that it is sealed off gradually.
I have previously sealed MDF with watered-down PVA. You can get “special” for the job, but I’ve used the cheap stuff in 5L bottles and it seemed to work just fine.
MDF is very poureous material, even if you sprayed loads of layers of paint but the finish will be patchy at best which is not good if you want a gloss finish. Also MDF (8mm or less) is prone to warp when the paint soaks in. Best to seal the MDF, you can seal it like Tom suggested with PVA or buy special seals but you will need a spray booth as they are toxic.
HALFORDS sell cans of filler spray but can be pricey depending how big the project you’re planing to spray. Good thing about filler spray that they will cover small imperfections like scratches or small dents and when you sand with a fine grit glass/sand paper you will have a smooth surface for a gloss finish. I hope this helped
P.S Halfords sell acrylic based spray paints which is less toxic but still need a ventilated area and a mask